Snare
About this ebook
***Longlisted for the CWA International Dagger***
'Stylist, taut and compelling' Daily Express
' Snare will ensnare you' Marie Claire
'A taut, gritty, thoroughly absorbing journey into Reykjavik's underworld' Booklist
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
After a messy divorce, young mother Sonia is struggling to provide for herself and keep custody of her son. With her back to the wall, she resorts to smuggling cocaine into Iceland, and finds herself caught up in a ruthless criminal world.
As she desperately looks for a way out of trouble, she must pit her wits against her nemesis, Bragi, a customs officer, whose years of experience frustrate her new and evermore daring strategies. Things become even more complicated when Sonia embarks on a relationship with a woman, Agla. Once a high-level bank executive, Agla is currently being prosecuted in the aftermath of the Icelandic financial crash.
Set in a Reykjavík still covered in the dust of the Eyjafjallajökull volcanic eruption, and with a dark, fast-paced and chilling plot and intriguing characters, Snare is an outstandingly original and sexy Nordic crime thriller, from one of the most exciting new names in crime fiction.
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
'A tense thriller with a highly unusual plot and interesting characters' The Times
'Tense, edgy and delivering more than a few unexpected twists and turns' Sunday Times
'Sharp shocks of chapters hit with increasing energy ... a towering powerhouse of read and I gobbled it up in one intense sitting' LoveReading
'The intricate plot is breathtakingly original, with many twists and turns you never see coming. Thriller of the year' New York Journal of Books
'This first novel of a planned trilogy is stylish, taut and compelling and a film adaptation is in the pipeline. With characters you can't help sympathising with against your better judgement, Sigurdardottir takes the reader on a breathtaking ride' Daily Express
'Lilja Sigurdardottir delivers a diabolically efficient thriller with an ultrarealistic plot ... We cannot wait for Sonja's next adventure' L'Express
'A smart, ambitious, and hugely satisfying thriller. Striking in its originality and written with all the style and poise of an old hand. Lilja is destined for Scandi super stardom' Eva Dolan
'For a small island, Iceland produces some extraordinary writers, and Lilja is one of the best. Snare is an enthralling tale of love and crime that stays with you long after you have turned the last page' Michael Ridpath
'Zips along, with tension building and building ... thoroughly recommended' James Oswald
'Crisp, assured and nail-bitingly tense, Snare is an exceptional read, cementing Lilja's place as one of Iceland's most outstanding crime writers' Yrsa Sigurdardottir
'Clear your diary. As soon as you begin reading Snare, you won't be able to stop until the final page' Michael Wood
' Snare is a great read and the finale is both shocking and unexpected ... a Wizard-of-Oz ending, without the laughs. Terrific and original stuff' European Literature Network
Discover more
Ratings and reviews
About the author
Icelandic crime-writer Lilja Sigurdardóttir was born in the town of Akranes in 1972 and raised in Mexico, Sweden, Spain and Iceland. An award-winning playwright, Lilja has written four crime novels, with Snare, the first in a new series, hitting bestseller lists worldwide. The film rights have been bought by Palomar Pictures in California. Lilja has a background in education and has worked in evaluation and quality control for preschools in recent years. She lives in Reykjavík with her partner. Follow Lilja on Twitter @lilja1972 and on her website liljawriter.com
Quentin Bates escaped English suburbia as a teenager, jumping at the chance of a gap year working in Iceland. For a variety of reasons, the gap year stretched to become a gap decade, during which time he went native in the north of Iceland, acquiring a new language a new profession as a seaman and a family, before decamping en masse for England. He worked as a truck driver, teacher, netmaker and trawlerman at various times before falling into journalism, largely by accident. He is the author of a series of crime novels set in present-day Iceland ( Frozen Out, Cold Steal, Chilled to the Bone, Winterlude, Cold Comfort and Thin Ice which have been published worldwide. He has translated all of Ragnar Jónasson’s Dark Iceland series. Visit him on Twitter @graskeggur or on his website graskeggur.com
